Sunday Okobi
Concerned Professionals Congress (CPC) has lauded the Chief
of Defence Staff (CDS), General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin, over the
just-released 2017 Global Terrorism Index of the Institute for Economics and
Peace (IEP) which revealed that the Nigerian military’s ongoing
counter-terrorism strategy has recorded the largest global decrease in
terrorism-related deaths.
Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed had, in a
statement last week in Abuja expressed federal government delight at the report
which he described as another proof of the Nigerian military’s
successfully-sustained prosecution of the anti-terror war under what he called
the visionary and dogged leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The group in a statement made available to Yellowstone in Lagos
on Wednesday by its Chief Media Strategist, Mr. Emeka Nwankpa and the North East
Regional Rapporteur, Malam Baba Al-Kasim, said the report was a fitting reward
for the renowned resolve and resilience of the Olonisakin-led Nigeria military
in driving the national strategic defence policy towards achieving robust
inter-agency cooperation among the armed services and other security agencies
employing synergy, intelligence and information-sharing to end the war against
terror.
According to the statement, “It is note-worthy that the
report showed that terrorism deaths caused by Boko Haram dropped by 80 per cent
in 2016, recalling that Sambisa Forest, Boko Haram’s dreaded stronghold, fell
on December 22.
“The trend showed that Nigeria, compared in 2015 with
Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria which were most endangered by terrorism,
recorded 33 per cent fewer deaths thereby depleting the scourge of
terror-related deaths with a 13 per cent year-on-year decline in two successive
years. This is assuring.”
CPC described as valid comments by the Executive Chairman of
the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), Mr. Steve Killelea, who said: “The
decline of Boko Haram in Nigeria is having a positive ripple effect with
Cameroon, Chad and Niger collectively recording 75 per cent fewer deaths,”
noting that the progress made by Nigeria in the fight against terrorism since
President Buhari assumed office in 2015 is phenomenal.
Nwankpa observed that Nigeria’s novel counter-terrorism
strategy has helped to defeat Boko Haram terrorists in the North-east region
which he said prompted a visit early this year by a high-powered study group
from the prestigious Royal College of Defence Studies in the United Kingdom to
the Defence Headquarters in Abuja.
He said Nigeria’s positive contributions to global peace and
security is increasingly being appreciated globally, courtesy of President
Buhari’s zeal, the president who he said carefully selected highly
professional, committed and patriotic service chiefs led by the CDS,
Olonisakin.
The group further noted that the CDS-led team has left none
in doubt about Nigeria’s role as a leading military force in Africa and the
sub-region manifested in the victory over terrorism and insurgency in the
country thereby reducing some of the world’s most endemic security challenges
to global peace and order.
‘’The Nigerian military under Olonisakin and the service
chiefs has used synergy, intelligence and information sharing to secure and
stabilise the country in the manner it has tackled national security threats
particularly terrorism and insurgency,” Nwankpa said in an emailed statement.
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